Published on: 18th August 2025

Why Your Children May Not Inherit from You

If you are a parent of a blended family you need to be wary of something known as sideways disinheritance.  This term refers to a situation where children or other intended beneficiaries are unintentionally disinherited because of how assets pass after someone dies—particularly when one spouse or partner remarries or changes their Will.

How it happens 

This often occurs in blended families or second marriages, with the following a typical example;

1. Spouse A dies, leaving everything to Spouse B (the surviving spouse) by Will.
   
   
2. Spouse B later remarries and/or changes their Will, leaving their estate to their new spouse or new family.
   
   
3. The children of Spouse A receive nothing when Spouse B eventually dies—despite Spouse A’s original intention that their children should inherit.

In other words, the deceased’s estate goes "sideways" to a new spouse or family, rather than "down" to their own children or bloodline.

Example scenario

• John and Sally are married and have two children.
  
  
• John dies and leaves everything to Sally.
  
  
• Sally remarries and makes a new will, leaving everything to her new spouse, Tom.
  
  
• When Sarah dies, Tom inherits everything and is under no obligation to leave anything to John’s children.
  
  
• John’s children have effectively been disinherited sideways.

How to prevent it

There are legal tools and planning strategies to prevent sideways disinheritance, such as:

• Life Interest Trusts – Where the surviving spouse benefits during their lifetime, but the estate passes to children after their death.
  
  
• Mutual Wills – Where both spouses agree not to change their Wills after first death ~ but these are very restrictive.
  
  
• Lifetime trusts that fix the distribution when both spouses are alive.
  
  
• Consulting an experienced estate planning practitioner, such as Casey & Associates.

If you would like to speak with one of our Consultants to discuss any of the issues raised in this article or any other Estate Planning topic please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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